A stroke of good Luck: Aussie plays his way into PGA reckoning after hole-in-one
Curtis Luck has lived up to his surname with a brilliant ace on the Australian PGA Championship’s party hole, his wedge spinning sharply left to roll into the cup and ignite the second-round action.
A supplied image of Curtis Luck after hitting a hole in one at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, Royal Queensland Golf Course, Brisbane, Friday, November 24, 2023. (AAP Image/Supplied by PGA of Australia, Dan Peled)
The only downside was that he did it on Friday morning, in front of a sparse crowd before the rowdy punters arrived to fill the 3000 capacity Royal Queensland arena later in the day.
The 27-year-old still earned warm applause and gave his ball to Theo Smith, the son of Luck’s caddie Duane.
“The only thing you’re thinking is … don’t go long,” Luck reflected of the 17th hole post-round.
“You just want to knock it somewhere, hopefully around the pin but keep it somewhat towards the middle of the green.
“Once I saw it land, I was pretty confident that it was going to stick pretty close and then I think it might have just spun back a little bit back into the hole.
“So, pretty electric stuff.”
The hole-in-one proved a handy spark in Luck’s round of 67, two birdies on his final three holes pushing him to eight under and giving the Korn Ferry Tour member a brief share of the lead.
“From hole 16 through nine I had good looks the entire way,” Luck said.
“I think it would be fair on my part to say I could have actually ended up going a bit deeper.
“I had a lot of putts ride over the edge of the hole, but having a hole-in-one and kick-starting it back on track when you’re one over (for the round) in pretty tough conditions was what I needed.”
